Nicholas Kristof, an Op Ed writer for the Times and blogger, wrote a pretty amazing article last week titled Our Greatest National Shame.
Spoiler alert: he says it’s education.
Notice especially the growing solidarity nationally about the importance of quality teachers. I can’t help but think that there’s a movement afoot. Better schools filled with better teachers is an end-game that’s certainly gaining tremendous momentum.
Enjoy the article. And by the way, bloggers worry about speaking into the wind. If you have a comment or reaction, SHARE IT! If you have an article you’d like to share, POST IT! If you have a question, ASK IT!
For those of you who listen to Pink Floyd, I can’t help but think about this. (Just the first 21 seconds!)
The article references two things that I think are particularly interesting and important — Fighting the war on poverty with schools, and the Perry Preschool Program. A core part of the solution to the war on poverty IS funding education – early education! High quality early education programs, like Perry, have been shown to help bridge the learning gap that too often exist between low-income children and their wealthier peers upon entering kindergarten. Poverty-related learning gaps have been seen in children as young as 17 months old — these gaps grow exponentially with each year once children begin school. The challenges that educators are having trying to “save” the high schoolers, as the Kristof article mentions, are due in large part to this phenomenon. The stimulus funding is an incredible opportunity to make real progress in the war on poverty – by investing in education, starting with early education – and giving low-income children a real chance to gain the education and skills they need to move out of poverty.
Sounds cool and interesting!
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